Our first stop as we leave Taichung is at the huge Buddha of Mount Bagua. It takes about an hour to make our way out of the big city and to the temple. On the way in fact we never leave developed areas but we assume that we move from city to city, or maybe not. Luckily we have prepared and we know where the parking is as it is a little bit hidden and then it is time to explore and find the large Buddha which is the major attraction here. Or maybe we are the attraction? At least for the schoolkids who are visiting here we are the bigger attraction that the Buddha or so it seems.
There is a map of the complex that we cannot read but it is not that difficult to find the Buddha we can see him up the stairs, and it is really huge. So up the stairs we go it is time to see it up close.
And yep, it is a huge statue of Buddha. You can even enter it but we decide not today as it is not clear if it is for fee or how far you can enter it. So we enjoy the dragons, or how we affectionately call them cats, play with the huge balls at the base before moving on.
The actual temple is actually further back, or so we assume, and that is where we go passing by some weird statues of goats, birds and other wildlife.
Next to the temple are a few arcade machines and we play a bit and even win a cute cat. And of course also buy a cold drink from a soft drink dispenser, it is hot and humid but luckily there is no sun and no rain.
Inside the temple there is AC which is great so we take our time exploring and enjoying the exotic, for us, temple.
You can climb a couple floors to a nice view of the city and the back of the Buddha and even be at eye level with a nearby pagoda. That we definitely do not want to climb.
There are a few birds here including our first Eastern Red-rumped Swallows and a spotted dove just watching all the swallows fly by.
Each level has their own temple and we explore each of them, they can be quite different from each other and even though we do not know a lot what is represented it is fun to explore especially as there is no one else around.
And then it is time to return back to the car past rows of stalls that are not open, it seems today is not a busy day. We somehow are able to pay for the parking, something that we were quite stressed about and then move on, time to go towards the shore and visit one more wetland reserve, Aogu Wetlands Reserve.
